It’s surely not an East vs. West thing!

Ok, since I couldn’t voice my opinion at work without looking over my shoulders, let me start by saying this:

I am not sure who wrote those comments on Stickydiljoe’s blog, but I do agree with some points made by that guy. If I ever met him, I’d buy him a :beer:

Are trailered cars still nice and deserving of props? Sure, so are those cars with chameleon paint, and lambo doors. *Insert chuckle* After all, anyone’s hard work deserves props. I’m not taking that away from anyone. Would a car that rolled off of a trailer, and had (GASP!) not a single spec of dust in the engine bay take away my breath? No way, dust had no chance of getting in there, especially when that car hasn’t seen real usage.

Does that make a person who drove their car to an event better than the person who didn’t? No, not really — actually not at all. But I bet they enjoyed it!

Are trailered cars something I look up to and respect? Not really, but what does that matter, I’m just one man in a sea of other Import or plain Automotive enthusiasts. I feel that cars are meant to be driven, yes, even < 20k miles ITRs. Sure they are collectors items, but what's the value of a car if you don't take it out and enjoy it? We only own Hondas, these aren’t Magnum PI’s Ferrari, or the original KITT that was driven by Michael Knight.

Hey, a lot of those cars deserve to be trailered, they’re beauties. Keep them safe, and unscathed, nothing really wrong with that at all. It’s logical, when you’re going cross country, can’t take that away from anyone for sure.

What's this with the "we have lives and careers so we just rather trailer our cars"? I'm not really sure about this, as do many people who own nice feature worthy or featured already cars. What, they don’t have families, jobs, college educations, or other things going on in their live with meaning or value? I’m sure they do, however they felt like being enthusiasts.

En * thus * iast: a person having a strong liking for something

Some people are just into cars, and some are enthusiasts; people who live for the thrill of driving their car, along side of their peers, taking the risk of being out on the open road regardless to how expensive their front bumper or lip may have cost.

You know why? Because they live for this.

I also heard the “what if something happens along the highway”, well honestly who mods their car with that in mind? Theft happens, accidents happen, there are bad roads, potholes, and blown 18 wheeler tires EVERYWHERE. You live with it, pay attention, and take the risk. If not, go pick up a Prius and go back to your monotonous life.

I’m not trying to take away anything from people who trailer their cars, they’ve got it like that, awesome! The West builds nice cars, the West has been doing it for years, the West has all of the good shops, and magazines covering all their “good meets.”

But remember, the East works twice as hard (parts take longer to get here, are more expensive—we can’t drive to JDM Speedworx to avoid paying freight) has half the year to actually enjoy their hard work, yet all this put aside . . . DOES IT JUST AS BIG!!!

With that being said, can’t wait to see who shows up to ImportAlliance 2010, I just booked my hotel rooms. I just need to make sure the nearby convenience stores have enough Coronas for us this year!

PS: I love the condescending & sarcastic responses from whoever claimed that the West didn't drive their cars, I've never heard of people getting offended if/when "certain things said" were unfounded.

This past weekend!

With the recent weather, it just reminded me of how awesome the tri-state is when the weather is enjoyable. It also reminds me of how awesome my friends are when placed in the same venue, especially with Corona being a catalyst.

With that being said, lets get ready to kick off the season baby!

The “function” argument.

Every other day, I read about the “function” of one’s car, mainly on the Automotive Forums online. This card only comes into play once there’s a car that looks really good versus a car that is built with one thing in mind performance.

However, more often than not, the car that may look really good, may be packing a little heat beneath it’s “bonnet” and likewise the car that may have canards, splitters, and a mean rear wing may have a hamster wheel in its engine compartment.

So how is it that the Internet’s equivalent of Simon Cowell’s worldwide, get away with telling the random person that their car is not functional or isn’t using it’s expensive parts in the way they deemed as functional?

Keep in mind, there are exceptions to this, as with anything in the Real World however lets be realistic when taking this little sugar pill I am about to prescribe.

If Person A has a “slammed” vehicle, and likes to keep it clean, all the while showing off certain characteristics of a performance oriented vehicle, is it non-functional? Can it not accomplish what it originally did, or sought to do in the long run? Dictionary.com defines function as what something, in this case a car, is used for.

So Person A, has limited shock travel, coupled with high rebound, and a spring rate that can rattle a skeleton loose, but they can still drive their car, they can still enjoy their car, and they can still accomplish what the car would be used for, getting from point A to point B, even more so with a smile on their face.

However, Person B has a track car, whether it be straight line or twisties or a little of both. And they say their car is functional, but Person A’s car is not. This argument is null, because again, function is defined as what something is used for. So if their car is used moving a human around on a track or road, either way its still functioning, right?

Different strokes for different folks, so long as we’re supporting our scene the right way, ensuring that companies that actually invest time and money into us, remain afloat by patronizing them, as well as us investing time, feedback, and ideas to them.

This is just a little circular logic, and an argument that can last until the end of days. It’s meant to keep you thinking, and laugh at Person A vs. Person B.

The forums seem like Sparta these days, and no side seems to be letting up.

Hate.

Ignorant people are forced to hate what they can’t comprehend or don’t understand, and even more so if they can’t participate in it themselves. It’s funny how people change, 360 degrees, once they realize they’re not congruent to you. I’d like to take a few minutes to address this, seeing as it’s becoming seen more and more frequently these days.

In order to elevate beyond status quo, it takes a certain level of dedication, hard work, and character. However, not everyone is cut out for this endeavour, just like not everyone is cut out to be Mark Sanchez, or Alex Rodriguez, or Lebron James.

So why is it that people resort to hating the next person, instead of being proud that they had the tools and drive to elevate, or being proud that they were able to know such a person. That’s just something none of us regular beings will ever be able to figure out.

With that being said, I’d like to say I’m proud of everyone who has participated in the East Coast revival, and just remember we’re not going anywhere!

Just some random feelings.

I can’t help but to feel withdrawn from the Honda scene at the moment, and it is not because I fell out of love with my car, or modifying econoboxes, it is because the weather; the characteristic that makes the Northeast what it is, is driving me insane!

I haven’t seen all my good friends in one place since November, and the closest thing has been Christmas or NYE’s partying, but even then, it’s only 25% of the people I am used to seeing. Who else feels the same way? Who else wishes that we can have every other season besides winter?

Tell me how you feel guys, girls, cars, and anyone else that wants to vent! Summer, where the hell are you?

Verizon’s BlackBerry Storm2

I have finally gotten the chance to play with the new BlackBerry Storm2 at a Verizon store over the weekend. Although I was pretty stoked from the announcement of the device, to the date of its release, I must admit I was quite disappointed when I held it in my hands.

Especially since the latest OS release by Verizon, updating the original Storm to 5.0, which you all can do by downloading BlackBerry Desktop Manager and you will be immediately prompted to upgrade to this OS.

Anyhow, the Storm2’s screen is not as responsive as the Storm, and it actually felt rather harsh to type words on it. I do like the tactile responsiveness of the original Storm, and find that I can type rather fast on it especially coupled with the newest OS because finally the virtual keyboard can keep up with my typing.

I also felt like the phone was rather slow, and that is big downfall, especially being that they upgraded the internal flash memory to 256mb which is 4x the amount of the original Storm.

Unless you are dying to try the Wifi, which is hit or miss at this point due to Verizon dropping the ball on the implementation of Wifi with this device (finally!) does not always lead to a secure server side connection, meaning you may be limited to just Web Browsing over Wifi rather than all the features of your BlackBerry such as BB Messenger, Email, and other network dependent features.

If I were to be forced to make a decision–at this point, I’d say I’d stick it out with my Storm, as with a few easy tweaks, you can have it running as great if not better than the Storm2.

-Luis

Reviving our lost blog!

Hello everyone, looks like we’ve been slacking with updates. But this will be no more. I will be bringing a lot of new content to this page and establish and maintain quite a bit more visitors (hopefully!) for your e-satisfaction.

The East Coast post-Import Alliance

I must say, I have noted a lot more togetherness (is that a word?) after Import Alliance. People more willing to drive 90+ minutes just to hang out with homies, whether its PA dudes going to Upstate NY, or NYC dudes going south to PA, whatever the case may be–one thing is sure, the East Coast’s finest event/meet/show brought everyone together.

Now, post-IA, the lines are blurry, people from all walks of life are friends for one thing… The PASSION. And I must say, I love it.

The past two Sundays, instead of doing stuff locally I have travelled just to chill with people who I bonded with over that weekend. The weekend of ’09 which we will remember forever, and savor until next year when we hopefully outdo ourselves.

With that being said, please share your thoughts and feelings, as well as show appreciation to the entire Nextgear/Import Alliance staff and most importantly Don Napier!

-Luis

Esteban Diaz Photo

With much more to come tonight baby! Sol//Fresh bringing you that heat 🙂

I would like to welcome our newest Contributor! Esteban Diaz!

Well, with him being sol//freshkrew’s official photographer (and plus my dumbass not knowing my way around a camera) its only right that he is the top contributor on this site bringing heat & lava to our blog.

He has a very distinct style within his pictures, and if you’re ANYTHING like me (or just don’t want to get your head beat in with a lurk chair) you’ll love and appreciate all he brings to the table!